"Spring Light" is a film shot three years ago. Because it was set in that special era, it couldn't be released for a long time. Even though director Sun Wujiu revised it many times, he still couldn't get the official approval. Last year, when Bo Yan was shooting "Sunrise", he suggested that if it couldn't be sorted out domestically, they could try the international A-list film festivals. As long as they were confident in the quality of the movie, they wouldn't necessarily need to win an award; just entering the main competition would help in getting approval for release.
Sun Wujiu had indeed thought the same, but when Bo Yan proposed it, the deadlines for the three major European festivals had already passed that year. Helpless, he had to continue polishing the movie, partly to tone down some overly radical scenes for domestic release and partly to re-edit and refine the film.
